The present invention relates generally to display racks and more particularly to display racks made of corrugate cardboard or similar materials which can be cut into a pre-designed pattern and folded in order to create the unique display rack of the present invention.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that point of sale displays often occur with the use of display racks and that such display racks, when assembled, are bulky and space consuming. The bulk of such display racks and the space required for their use is acceptable once the display rack is assembled and in place at the retail establishment using it. However, getting the display rack to the retail establishment oftentimes requires shipping the display rack through commercial carriers and the like. Extra bulk increases the expense of such shipments and, in addition, if the display rack is shipped in its assembled condition, it oftentimes gets damaged in transition. Such display racks are particularly susceptible to damage when they are made of corrugate cardboard and the like, being rather fragile and subject to being crushed by excess weight being placed upon them.
For the foregoing reasons, it is desirable to have a display rack made of corrugate cardboard or of similar substance which can be shipped in a disassembled condition. Such a rack, in its disassembled condition is preferably shipped as flat packaging without exposing the display rack to the risk of being crushed during transit. To this end, there have been several attempts to design a display rack which can be manufactured through the use of several pieces that can be shipped in a flat condition and when received at the retail facility, folded and assembled to create a useful point of display device. One such attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,135,093 issued to Abrams in 1938. Abrams device shows a display rack with compartments that can, in turn, be subdivided; but the device, in order to have multiple compartments requires a large number of pieces to be assembled and is therefore time consuming and awkward to put together.
Another feature that is desirable in a point of sale display rack is the ability to show the product being sold, such as greeting cards, packets containing flower seed or garden seed, brochures and pamphlets, etc. through the compartments of the display racks. The U.S. Pat. No. 2,491,652 to Feerick attempts to meet this need by providing a spring across the front of the rack in order to hold the contents of the compartments in place and yet display the contents to the purchasing public. However, the Feerick disclosure has the disadvantage of the open bottom of the compartment which would allow the material displayed in the compartments to slip out of the compartment onto the floor.
The deficiencies of the prior art have left a need for a display rack that is simple to manufacture, easy to assemble, can be shipped in a flat unassembled fashion with a minimum number of pieces, can clearly display the merchandise being offered for sale and which will contain the merchandise in a secure fashion to keep it from falling from the rack.
The display rack can also be shipped assembled at a reduced weight as compared to, and without breakage as experienced with, hard plastic racks.